Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Ezio Auditore da Firenze (24 June 1459-30 November 1524) was a Florentine Italian member of the Assassins Order. During his life he was an opponent of the Borgia Family, who were Knights Templar members. He was Mentor from 1503 to 1512.

Early Life
Ezio was born in the Republica Florentina on 24 June 1459, as the second son of Giovanni and Maria Auditore. He appeared to be stillborn, but, after some words of encouragement from his father, he began to cry, leading his father to call him a "fighter". Up until the age of 17, Ezio lived a life of luxury amidst the members of the Florentine noble class; he was apprenticed to the renowned banker Giovanni Tornabuoni, who worked alongside Giovanni Auditore's banking business, but was all the while unaware of his father's allegiance to the Assassin Order.

In 1476, along with a gang of thugs, he attacked Vieri de Pazzi and his gang, trying to settle a dispute between their two noble families. Vieri threw a stone at Ezio, scarring his face, so Ezio and his gang (aided by his brother Federico) beat down Vieri's boys. He looted 200 florins so that he could go to the doctor and tend to his facial wound. That night, he visited the beautiful Cristina Vespucci, and had sexual intercourse. He returned home to the Palazzo Auditore, were he saw his father, who at first admonished him but then said that he reminded him of himself and laughed. He was sent to deliver a letter to Lorenzo de Medici, and en route got in a fight with some Pazzi thugs, but beat them up and ran to the De Medici home. He gave the letter to the butler, and he returned to his father.

When he returned home, he saw Gonfaloniere (Alderman) Uberto Alberti speaking with his father. He told his father that Lorenzo was out of town, and that he gave it to the man at the door. After speaking with his father, he saw his sister Claudia in a sad mood, and he decided to help her: she was told that her boyfriend Duccio de Luca was unfaithful, so Ezio decided to punish him. He saw Duccio giving a ring to her, and heard him say that his father said that he could do better than an Auditore. He beat Duccio into yielding and staying away from his sister.

When he returned, he met Petruccio Auditore da Firenze, his younger brother, who said that he wanted some feathers. After collecting all three, he brought them back to Petruccio in his room, and gained 100 florins. After that, he met with his mother Maria in the courtyard, and she told him that she wanted him to join her on an errand. He walked with her to the home of Leonardo DaVinci, who had painted some pictures for her. He carried the box of artwork home, and would meet DaVinci later in life.

Trouble with the Pazzis
Giovanni sent Ezio to deliver two letters and retrieve a third from a pigeon coop, and when he gave a letter to one man, he said that "they" were moving and that Giovanni should as well. He delivered the other, and took the scroll from from the pigeon in a rooftop coop, and he returned home. When he returned, he did not see his family, but was found by a maid. He found out that his father and brothers were in jail, and he found his mother in shock, as she had been raped and beaten when she resisted.

He climbed up the tower where they held prisoners and asked his father what happened. Giovanni told him to return home to get a hidden sword and take everything in a secret chest, which was his Assassins equipment. Ezio drew a sword and killed two guards who tried to arrest him, and he escaped his palace. He delivered a letter to Uberto Alberti, who said that everything was going to be fine.

Becoming an Assassin
Ezio headed to attend the acquittal of his father and brothers, but he found them on the gallows instead. Giovanni argued to Alberti that he had given him documents, but Alberti said that there were no documents and no evidence. Giovanni, Petruccio, and Federico were sentenced to death by hanging, and the three were killed.

He headed to a courtesan home so that he could learn blending and stealing, two vital skills. He managed to learn them, guaranteeing the two starting conditions of being a good Assassin. When he returned, he found out that Paola had stolen the hidden blades from the guards and she gave them to Ezio, and told him to go to Leonardo da Vinci to get them repaired. Using a code, Da Vinci cracked the manuscript and was able to repair them for Ezio. When a member of the Florentine guard entered the place and took Leonardo out for questioning, Ezio stabbed him with a hidden blade and brought the body inside with those that Da Vinci was researching.

Revenge
Ezio returned to Paola at night, and he was told that Uberto was attending Verrocchio's latest works at a public event at the Santa Croce cloister. He found Uberto arguing with Principe Lorenzo de Medici of Firenze outside of the art gallery, and he heard that he was allies with the Pazzi. Ezio trailed him without being detected, using courtesan women to distract the guards at the rear of the gallery.

He found Uberto talking with a colleague, and he stabbed him twice in the chest with hidden blades, and killed him quickly. He fled the Santa Croce and returned to Paola, who advised him to tear down the wanted posters, kill corrupt officials, and bribe heralds. He bribed one herald and tore down two posters, and returned home. He was met by his speechless mother and his sister, and Ezio gave Claudia the sad news that her brothers and father were dead. He told them that they would head to the city of Monteriggioni, where his uncle Mario Auditore had a villa.

Arrivederci
He led his family out of the city, but as he neared Monteriggioni, he found Vieri de Pazzi and some Florentines waiting for him. Vieri demanded his palazzo, two new steeds, a prettier bride, and Ezio's life, but Ezio resisted, and found a strange scarred man on the road. The man threw him a sword, and Ezio fought off the attackers with the man and his men's help. He asked him what his name was, and found out that it was Uncle Mario.

Ezio bought a dagger, greaves, and five medicine pouches, and Mario taught him how to dodge, counterattack, taunt, escape from combat, and how to duel in the courtyard. However, when Ezio said that he was going to sail for Spain in three days with his family, an angered Mario prepared his men to ride to San Gimignano to slay Vieri. Ezio decided to meet up with him. Before he left, he found his mother praying to the feathers that Petruccio had been given by Ezio, and promised Claudia that she would come back.

Vieri's Downfall
Ezio met up with Mario and the mercenaries in San Gimignano in Tuscany, and was told that the city was larger than the Templars and the south gate suffered for it. Mario and his men distracted the guards, so Ezio snuck over the wall and opened the gates, getting rid of the archers with throwing knives. He opened the gates to let the mercenaries into the city, and distracted the guards from raising the alarm along with some of Mario's men. After killing them, Ezio headed to Santa Maria Assunta, where he helped to fight off attackers who ambushed Mario.

Mario told Ezio that he should go and find Vieri, and on a rooftop, he looked down and spotted a meeting of Templars. He found rich Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia, Vieri, Francesco de Pazzi, and Jacopo de Pazzi, and he heard Rodrigo say that Vieri would manage the mercenaries, Francesco would lead the guards, and Jacopo would make sure that the city was cleaned up. When they departed, Ezio decided to chase down Vieri.

He found him on the ramparts with a few guards, and he deflected a sword stroke by Vieri, counterattacking by running him through with a sword. A dying Vieri revealed that the reason why his family was killed was because Giovanni was secretly a member of the Assassins, and the Pazzi were a family of Templars. Ezio shouted at the dead boy of Vieri, but Mario stepped in and told him to have some respect, and Mario gave Ezio a letter picked from Vieri's body. By killing Vieri, Tuscany grew quiet once more.

Codex
Ezio was brought inside of the villa by Mario, who wanted to tell him about the codex and show him his home. Mario told Ezio that the Codex was written by old assassin Altair Ibn-La'Ahad, and was passed down from his great-grandfather. Ezio collected four pages and brought them to the home, and found his sister Claudia with a logbook, and found out that Mario made her write down improvements for the city and upgrades. Ezio also found out that he had the ability to renovate the city's buildings to attract more people and get income.

Mario also showed him a gallery of statues of Assassins: Caligula's assassin Leonius, Alexander the Great's killer Iltani, Cleopatra's poisoner Amunet, Qin Shi Huang's murderer Wei Yu, the innovator of the hidden blade Darius, Genghis Khan's slayer Qulan Gal, and a locked away statue of Altair Ibn-La'Ahad.

La Volpe
After practicing new fighting techniques in the backyard of Leonardo Da Vinci's workshop, he met up with the man they called "La Volpe". He was chasing a thief and was stopped by La Volpe, who told him of a meeting at the Santa Maria Novella Church, which could reveal the location of Francesco de Pazzi. He snuck into the church through the catacombs at the bottom, and crept through the underground graves. He used a mechanism to control the mazes and find his way through to the meeting. He overheard Bernardo Baroncelli announcing that he brought all of his weapons, and heard then discussing that a new sun would rise over Florence, and a plot to kill Giuliano de Medici. Ezio left the catacombs and headed to the ground level, preparing to stop the plot.

Battle at the Duomo


Ezio alerted La Volpe about the weapons, enough for a battalion, and about how Pope Sixtus IV backed the assassination. He headed to prevent the conspirators from attacking the Medici family, and through the eavesdrop earlier he found out that the Conspirators intended to kill Lorenzo de Medici and Giuliano de Medici in front of Florence Cathedral during Sunday Services so that all of Florence would see the murder.

Ezio located Francesco in the crowd but was too late to stop the murder: Bernardo Baroncelli and Francesco de Pazzi drew knifes and killed Giuliano brutally. Lorenzo was wounded but survived, and Ezio intervened, helping him fight off 12 of the Templar mercenaries. He escorted Lorenzo back to his home, where he was taken care of. He then chased Lorenzo on the top of the rooftops from the top of the Pallazzo della Signora, and after a long chase, killed him with two throwing knives.

Four to the Floor
Later, Ezio encountered Lorenzo once more. Lorenzo told him of a time when he was six and almost drowned in the Arno, and he woke up one day to the sound of his mother crying, and he found a rescuer. This man was Giovanni Auditore, and the Medicis and Auditores were friends from then on. Lorenzo told Ezio that Jacopo de Pazzi had fled, but that there were many more people. He told Ezio that they were Antonio Maffei, Archbishop Francesco Salviati, Stefano da Bagnone, and Bernardo Baroncelli.

Shortly after, he met with Leonardo da Vinci, who asked him about the Medici-Pazzi feud. He thanked Ezio for saving the city, and Ezio gave Leonardo a Codex page that Lorenzo had given him. The paper contained a blade design for delivering poison, but it was hard to do the blade without cutting off his ring finger.

Hunting the Pazzis
He returned to Mario, who found out from one of his scouts that they located all of the conspirators. He headed to San Gimignano first, as it was the closest location to him. There, it was reported that conspirator Bernardo Baroncelli had been extradited to from Constantinople, having been arrested by Lorenzo de Medici, so Ezio moved into locate him. Using Eagle Visionw hile atop a tower, he located Baroncelli and chased him down, killing him with two throwing knives.

Ezio's next assassination target was Archbishop Francesco Salviati, who was traced to the Villa Salviati in Tuscany. Rather than sneak, he was given command of an army of Mario's mercenaries and sent to subdue the villa guards and kill Francesco Salviati. With six men, he stormed the villa and tripped Salviati, before lunging and stabbing him in the chest with his sword.

Ezio found out that Stefano da Bagnone, another Priest in the conspiracy, was hiding near an abbey. He entered the abbey and grabbed the attention of guards by bumping into one, but he spotted Bagnone and managed to stab him in the chest with his hidden blades. With the guards on him, Ezio made his escape, running away and throwing a smoke bomb, distracting the guards. He saddled up on his horse and rode off to the next target.

The final name on the list was a third priest, Antonio Maffei, who was in San Gimignano on a tower preaching for the civilians to repent. Ezio painstakingly climbed the tower and attacked Antonio, slashing him with a hidden blade and pushing him off the tower. Maffei died, scolding Ezio, and he was the last of the minor conspirators to die.

Jacopo's Downfall
With the others dead, Jacopo de Pazzi was the last name on the list besides Rodrigo Borgia. Ezio trailed Jacopo to a meeting, hoping to add new Templars to his list of future targets, and he stealthily followed him. He followed him to the meeting place, where he found Rodrigo Borgia. He heard Rodrigo admonish Jacopo, who blamed the failure to Francesco, and he heard a "Signor Barbarigo" talking. He witnessed Jacopo being hacked down by Rodrigo Borgia and Emilio Barbarigo, and Rodrigo noticed Ezio in the shadows, and had two mercenaries bring him forwards. Ezio killed the two mercenaries, after they laughed at his offer of sparing them, and he put Jacopo out of his misery with his sword. He evaded the remaining guards, and fled from the scene.